GoPro Grand Prix at Sonoma

Its that time again for the 10th annual GoPro Grand Prix at Sonoma Raceway. This is my second time watching this event but this time around, I had the opportunity to watch it from right smack in the middle of the raceway along with the employees of GoPro. While I was stoked about this event, I was pleasantly surprised by this setup upon arrival:

You can kind of guess how the rest of the day is going to be like once you see something like this. A few inquiries later, I discovered that there are 5 open bars and free food within the "GoPro Experience" area and in its center, a giant carnival swing ride.

This is going to be amazing.

My attention quickly shifted from the churro cart to the sky when I heard the sound of jets fly by, painting the blue backdrop in an assortment of colors and doing stunts that will leave your anus sphincter tightly puckered.

Then a parade 24 Hours of Lemons cars showed up to astonish the audience.

I was overwhelmed by the sudden occurrence of awesome that's happening in front of me and I've only been here for 10 minutes. I spent the next hour stuffing myself with pork belly sandwiches and Racer 5 IPAs while waiting for the race to start. I was so full and drunk that I've only managed to get a few snaps

After the first 30 laps, I decided that I had was sober enough to try out the swing ride and scope the rest of the place out. It was a frighteningly dizzying experience that was thankfully dampened by the 7th cup of IPA I downed before hopping on this thing.

By the time the ride was over, I was seeing the world in 1/50 shutter speed. The alcohol influence was at its peak.

Me and my buddy Ron managed to squeeze our bodies into these tiny race cars. Later on we realized that the blue portion surrounding the cockpit is removable. I still don't quite know how I managed to pull my fat ass body out of that foot and a half wide slot.

Portions of the GoPro Experience were within less 10 feet from the track. The luxury of walking to the fence to take photos, then huffing it back to the churro cart made for the most amazing experience. Ever.

And after a 80 something laps, the GoPro Grand Prix was done. We played a round of extreme beer pong while waiting for the Pirelli World Challenge to start.

And then its on. It was nice to see an assortment of track prepped cars ranging to Ferraris to 370Zs.

We didn't stick around too long to see the results. It was getting late and traffic en route back home was about to hit critical mass. We decided to cut out but not after taking a few more snaps on turn 5.